Newsletter Wednesday, May 24, 2017

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Wednesday, May 24, 2017 [Intro for May 24, 2017]( [Dumbfoundead, Awkwafina, Lyricks, director Salima Koroma, Jaeki Cho, and Rekstizzy attend the 'Bad Rap' Premiere during the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival at Chelsea Bow Tie Cinemas on April 16, 2016 in New York City]( Dear Gossips, Bad Rap is a documentary that’s available now on VOD about four East Asian American rappers that, [according to the director](, Salima Koroma, is “a film about what it means to be an outcast, what it means to love something so much, but be told you can't be part of it. It's a story about fighting desperately for something you want despite your internal doubts and fears." The trailer is below. One of the four MCs profiled in the doc is Awkwafina. You are probably now familiar with her because she’s one of the Ocean's Eight. And she was recently cast as Peik Lin in the movie adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians. In support of Bad Rap, Awkwafina spoke with Donnie Kwak for [The Ringer]( and they talked about how she’s on a group chat with her Ocean's castmates and how paranoid she is that people will hack her phone to get to Sandra Bullock and Rihanna; what it’s been like working with “woke” Constance Wu on Crazy Rich Asians; the experience of being part of a cast where no one feels like they’re “the Asian in the cast”; and also… her name. Awkwafina is also Nora Lum. When asked if she would ever consider going by Nora Lum professionally, the way Ludacris is credited as “Chris Bridges”, for example, when he’s in a movie or Lady Gaga will be known as “Stefani Germanotta” in A Star Is Born, this was her response: “Well, I think that the ability for a musician to use their real name is a privilege, so you have to be in a certain class of musician to even have that advantage. It’s something that I thought about, but it is a privilege — a privilege that I don’t have. I feel like if I use Nora Lum, people would literally think I’m a different person. Which has its ups and downs, but I think a lot of aspects of Awkwafina bleed into the roles I’ve been taking in movies. So I don’t think that it’s inaccurate, you know?” As you can imagine, Awkwafina has been laughed at for her name. But she’s not wrong about the way we would perceive her as “Nora Lum” as opposed to “Awkwafina”. I’m getting into Duana territory here but that’s the point of her book, [The Name Therapist](: our names can define us and…or… they can distinguish us. Awkwafina will be credited as “Awkwafina” in both Ocean's Eight and Crazy Rich Asians. On the CRA set, “Awkwafina” is what’s printed on her chair. This is how she felt the first time she saw it: “That always means a lot because you look at that name and you remember when you chose that name for yourself and what that meant to you at that age when you chose it, and then seeing it actually materialize and used in reality is very profound. So it’s really cool to see my name on call sheets and see my name come up when I’m on TV. I chose that name for myself when I was 15 years old, so it’s nice to see it actually being recognized, you know?” Both my parents chose their English names, as did many Chinese of their generation because they were given Chinese names and not English ones. My dad’s Chinese name is LUI (family name or last name) Fuk-Lit (given name). Fuk-Lit means “good fortune”. But say it out loud, “Fuk-Lit”. Now imagine introducing yourself to someone in English. Hey, what’s up, I’m Fuk-Lit, nice to meet you. Or imagine someone asking Fuk-Lit where the party’s at. It’s impossible. Nora Lum is not exactly LUI Fuk-Lit and Awkwafina isn’t Bernard, but there is common ground in the choice to go by Bernard instead of Fuk-Lit and Awkwafina instead of Nora – it’s about identity and, also, to go back to what Salima Koroma said, about figuring out how to be a part of something or part of somewhere. [Click here]( for more of Awkwafina’s interview with The Ringer. Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 1:27 PM [Updating Charlie’s Angels]( [Janelle Monae]( It was [announced yesterday]( that the Charlie’s Angels reboot will hit theatres June 7, 2019, directed by [Elizabeth Banks](. I don’t know how to feel about this. Because … I really liked the last reboot. Am I remembering it wrong though? Did it actually suck, the version with [Drew Barrymore](, [Cameron Diaz](, and [Lucy Liu](? Because all I have are good feelings about it, about their chemistry. Also, I wish I actually had MORE feelings at the time about Lucy Liu being part of it. It has been 17 years – 17 years!!! – since that first reboot came out. And back in 2000, the diversity conversation did not have the same platform it does now. If they’d cast a white actress in Lucy’s place, I’m not sure there would be the same pushback that we’re seeing these days. That said, was there enough celebration? Why isn’t Lucy Liu a bigger star? It’s frustrating to me that she isn’t. Because Charlie’s Angels should have done way more for her than it did. So what will Charlie’s Angels look like in 2019? Elizabeth Banks has [already said]( she won’t be one of the angels. Given that the script isn’t quite done yet*, they probably not casting for the project until they have the story down. But… according The Tracking Board, [there’s a rumour]( that [Janelle Monae]( is “at the top of the studio’s wish list”. And, well, that’s why this maybe isn’t a bad idea? RIGHT??? Janelle. Monae. That voice. Saying, “Good morning, Charlie”. COME ON! So …now….who else? Send me your ideas! *Pitch for Show Your Work – Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard are currently working on the screenplay. You know their work from Narcos. Does it bug your ass that women aren’t writing this story? [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 7:20 PM [Smutty Social Media, May 24, 2017]( [Rebel Wilson leaves the Melbourne Supreme Court on May 24, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia]( [Rebel Wilson]( is in Melbourne for a defamation trial against Bauer Media. Her team asserts that it’s a case of tall poppy syndrome – as she was becoming more famous and Pitch Perfect 2 was coming out, they wanted to tear her down by painting her as a serial liar and fantasist. The defence is that the report was accurate (meaning she had lied about her age, which Sarah also wrote about [here]() and that no damage was done by the story. What I’m wondering is how her lawyers will prove that anyone in Hollywood even knows what Woman’s Day is. [Beach walk in my old hood in Melbourne x 🇦🇺]( A post shared by Rebel Wilson (@rebelwilson) on May 19, 2017 at 11:57pm PDT Everyone was telling me to watch [Jessica Simpson]( on Ellen, and I finally got around to it last night. I think [Ellen]( looking directly into the camera is all of us. It’s like Mimi-pushing-an-ice-cream-cart level slurry. .[@JessicaSimpson]( is a performer, a designer, a mom, and owns a billion-dollar business. [pic.twitter.com/RINGLz1aXc]( — Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) [May 22, 2017]( [Rachel Bloom]( talked to [PEOPLE]( on the red carpet about losing her virginity in college and how it filled her with self-doubt. I absolutely can not wait for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to come back. [#CrazyExGirlfriend]( [@Racheldoesstuff](: Why Losing My Virginity in College ‘Really Messed with My Head’ — People Magazine (@people) [May 22, 2017]( Will this be The Rock’s presidential portrait one day? [When I took this iconic absurdity of a picture in 1996 I was one year removed from sleeping on a used mattress I took from a garbage dumpster in the back of an hourly sex motel. Couldn't afford to buy a bed so we do what we gotta do to get by. You can imagine all the fun colorful bodily fluids I tried my best to clean off. 21 years later I'm taking the same photo backstage hosting #SaturdayNightLive for the fifth time. If you're going thru your own tough times "used mattress" stage, do your best to have faith things'll get better and always be willing to outwork your competition because you never know where life is gonna take you. And ALWAYS remember to place a soft tissue under your left elbow as to protect the fabric of the cheap ass swag turtleneck that had you out here looking like a bad ass buff lesbian. Oh and tuck the thumb in the fanny pack. Always tuck the thumb. 🤙🏾]( A post shared by therock (@therock) on May 23, 2017 at 6:57pm PDT We don’t about [P!nk]( a lot but do you know what I recently realized? Despite being marketed as a rebel, she is one of the few famous women of her generation to not be arrested for a DUI, or go to rehab, or have a quickie marriage, or even a really scandalous moment. I wonder, looking back, if she could pinpoint what she did (and what she avoided) to keep herself sane. [THANKYOU from the bottom of my heart ❤️ to all of you out there, you guys made such a difference in so many kids lives. You're sweethearts every single one of you. We did it #chefscycle #nokidhungry #fightinghunger]( A post shared by P!NK (@pink) on May 18, 2017 at 6:47pm PDT In possible BLL news, [Shailene Woodley]( visited HBO a few days ago (notice that she’s barefoot? Maybe [she’s earthing](.) [stopped by #HBO today for some big lil lies action. miss ma girls! @reesewitherspoon @zoeisabellakravitz @lauradern #nicolekidman #BLL]( A post shared by shailene woodley (@shailenewoodley) on May 19, 2017 at 5:05pm PDT When you casually slip your celebrity doppelgänger humblebrag into a conversation. OMG. This girl on Chopped casually worked "my mom thinks I look like Penelope Cruz" into her interview. [#humilityisdead]( — Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) [May 24, 2017]( Are we sick of orb memes? I am not ready to move on yet, and neither is Bette. I thought that picture of Trump in Saudi Arabia with the glowing orb looked familiar. Then I realized… [pic.twitter.com/xXNcMuiRD3]( — Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) [May 23, 2017]( [Paris Hilton](, [Pamela Anderson](, [Lindsay Lohan]( and [Mischa Barton]( [attended a party in Cannes](. I had to check the date on this story to make sure it is 2017 and not 2007. [#cannes 😎😍😎 #chakra #blessed #LohanJewelry]( A post shared by Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) on May 21, 2017 at 4:52pm PDT [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 5:36 PM [Love, starring Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton in Hollywood]( [Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada]( Here’s where I’m a f-cking hypocrite so please yell at me as loud as you can. Last night was the season finale of The Voice. I guess [Blake Shelton](’s artist did not win? Whatever. Doesn’t matter who won or who didn’t win. All that matters is that Blake felt like he was a loser. And then [Gwen Stefani]( Instagrammed this: [@blakeshelton #winnerofcute gx]( A post shared by Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) on May 23, 2017 at 9:20pm PDT So in the last post I wrote about Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s [love display]( at Cannes. Is this any different? It is for me…because… I actually think this is kinda cute? And that makes me a hypocrite, right? But is there an argument to be made? That there is a difference? What’s the difference? Red carpet vs backstage? Yeah but I feel like it’s still a huge audience. It’s just that one’s live and the other is online. Maybe it’s the combination of the audience and the tone. Gwen and Blake are corny too but they’re in on it. With Nicole and Keith, it’s the earnestness. There. That’s the answer. It’s how earnest Nicole and Keith were about their moment. The earnestness juxtaposed with the publicness of the situation, right? No? I’m a hypocrite? Fine. Last question: when Gwen and Blake started, there was a lot of doubt about whether or not they were legit. It’s been almost two years. Still doubts? Or all good? Here are Gwen and Blake at the Billboard Music Awards the other night. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 4:49 PM [Love, starring Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban in Cannes]( [Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban at the 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer' screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2017 in Cannes, France]( [Nicole Kidman]( is the [Queen of Cannes 2017](. She’s at the festival to support four projects. The red carpet has been her personal fashion show. Here is a selection of her looks so far. My favourite is the slinky black dress with the mismatched shoulders that she wore to the Top Of The Lake photocall yesterday. Her style, however, is not the point of this post. Yesterday Vanity Fair posted about Nicole and [Keith Urban]( getting “[emotional](” at the Palais. The Sydney Morning Herald called it “[performance PDA](”. The pictures don’t really do it justice though. You have to watch the video: [Could these two be anymore perfect? ❤️ #nicolekidman #keithurban #celebritycouple #calvinklein #redcarpet #instafashion #fashion #instaglam #glamour #beauty #fashionista #stylishstarlets #CannesFilmFestival #celebrity #celebrityglamcam]( A post shared by Celebrityglamcam (@celebrityglamcam) on May 23, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT That hug goes on forever. And then he says something to her and I think… does she start crying? I mean obviously it can’t have been a sh-tty thing, whatever it was that he said. Obviously it had to be sweet, to bring on the tears. I’m so proud of you? Your artistry inspires me? Our daughters are so blessed to be able to see your work? My love for you is more than the ocean and no less than the universe? The Nashville Predators are going to the Stanley Cup! Should I stay away from writing greeting cards? Why is there a choir singing Ellie Goulding’s Burn? If it were me, I couldn’t do this. I can barely hold my husband’s hand, let alone go in for a Profound Hug in front of all those photographers and thousands of fans watching it go down. And that probably means that my love is distracted, that it’s shallow and weightless. Because the takeaway from this is that what Nicole and Keith share is so deep and so pure that it’s not just that they can drown out the rest of us, it’s that they simply don’t know we’re there, so powerful is the force-field that surrounds their joint hearts. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 4:26 PM [IT’S HAPPENING]( [Lupita Nyong'o and Rihanna attend the Miu Miu show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2014-2015 on March 5, 2014 in Paris, France]( The Rihanna/ Lupita/ Ava/ Issa movie of Twitter’s dreams is officially happening. When I wrote [about the project last month](, it was still just a whisper and a sliver of hope in the hearts of anyone with a pulse and a brain. Even though I essentially laid out the timeline for all those rumoured to be involved and let Hollywood know its sole job was to not f-ck this up, I knew there was a chance this film would forever stay a meme that faded into Internet obscurity – you know, like what we all wish for the [Cash Me Outside girl](. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Netflix won a “[dramatic negotiation session]( at Cannes for the rights to the untitled [Rihanna]( and [Lupita Nyong’o]( heist movie, directed by [Ava DuVernay]( and written by [Issa Rae](. Writing that just made me giddy. IT’S HAPPENING. The concept, of course, started on social media and multiple reports confirm that the original creators will be credited. Since Lupita Nyong’o first responded to Twitter user @1800SADGAL, the idea was attributed to her until recently, when this Tumblr account claimed to have posted the now infamous Rihanna and Lupita [photo first](. The creator of this Tumblr has since said she’s been contacted. By who? Unclear. Whatever, I’ll let Netflix get to the bottom of this but it’s nice to know that whoever is responsible for my new favourite movie is going to get the acknowledgment they deserve. Now that I’ve given Twitter its credit, I need to call out every user who has co-signed Ryan Phillippe’s involvement in the film. Y’all, this is a sacred project that has yet to be tainted by mediocre white men. Do not ruin this for me with Reese Witherspoon’s douchey ex-husband. Of course, Phillippe was the one who inserted himself into the narrative. i'm down to play the rich white men, jus sayin... — Dr. Philz (@RyanPhillippe) [May 22, 2017]( Ryan Phillippe’s last role was a guest starring arc on Brooklyn Nine Nine. Obviously, he’s down but the only thing he’s worthy of playing in this movie is a valet. He gets 45 seconds of screen time, max. The problem is that Twitter now thinks it has the power to make this sh-t a reality. And it does. But with great power comes great responsibility. Use it wisely. Sure, the OG idea called for Rihanna and Lupita to scam rich white men so inevitably, at some point, they will have to add some dudes to this current culmination of black girl magic. That’s OK but I think we should be aiming for the other Ryans (either one), the Jon Hamms and the Bradley Coopers, not the f-cking Phillippes. If we’re going to start a Twitter petition, let’s get Chris Pine on board. He’s the only Chris allowed though. Don’t @ me. Finally, we’re probably going to see a lot more of these social media movie pitches but I’ll be OK with it if they’re all as good at this one. Well [#FilmTwitter]( I'm going to shoot my shot. I want a spy movie with [@michaelb4jordan]( tracking down his super spy father [@idriselba](. [pic.twitter.com/BPhHBF5qoC]( — Leon Langford (@MasonLLL) [May 22, 2017]( YES, PLEASE. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 3:33 PM [Top Gun 2019?]( [Tom Cruise at a photocall for The Mummy at World Square on May 23, 2017 in Sydney, Australia]( [Tom Cruise]( is currently promoting The Mummy. He’s been in Australia since Sunday taking pictures [with his good friend Russell Crowe]( and there was even an interview. During that interview, with Sunrise, Tom confirmed that a Top Gun sequel is happening, which we’ve already heard. But he actually got specific – it’s “definitely happening”: WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE: [@TomCruise]( just confirmed that Top Gun 2 is happening! "I’m gonna start filming it probably in the next year". [#sun7]( [pic.twitter.com/X17xvxz4Q4]( — Sunrise (@sunriseon7) [May 23, 2017]( If we take “in the next year” to mean between now and June 2018, and we give them another 6-9 in post, that would mean Top Gun 2 in 2019? Last year, which was the [last time we talked about]( the Top Gun sequel, Jerry Bruckheimer said that the story would be about drones and whether or not Maverick-style fighter pilots are relevant anymore in the time of drones. And, as I said, the plot, at least to me, is obvious: Maverick is now Viper. If Maverick is Viper, it means we need a new Maverick. I haven’t seen the original Blade Runner (yes, Sarah, I hear you bitching about this) but I’m assuming that in the new Blade Runner, Harrison Ford is now the Viper to Ryan Gosling’s Maverick. Would Tom Cruise be willing to be in a movie though where he’s not THE Maverick of the movie? I think so, yes. But only if Maverick gets to win the day. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 3:10 PM [Privacy Policy]( - [Unsubscribe](